Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1887-01-29
The Girls all Married.

AAo 1ITlo dlA IuuETlcO.
A we'll known theatrical manage thus
racily recounts to an eastern reporter,
his peculiar experiences in the Black
Hills upon the occasion Of his recent,
and first visit:
ave opened at Rapid City, and had u
tremendous house. Everybody in town
was there. After the show the audience
marched in a body to u hotel and
serena1ed us. The next night the same
crowd was there, and when the perfor.
nance was yer it escorted us to the
tavern. This thing was continued until
the end Of the engagement, and when
We set out for Lead City about fifty Of
the boys in Rapid followed after and at
tended the opening performance there.
Some OF them remained until we got
through there and accompanied rs to
Deadwood, many Of the Lead City lads
going over, too. At Deadwood we had
some trouble. One OF my best dancers
had been pursued by a Rapid CITY man
and had consented to marry him. He
was determined to have her leave the
company at once, and when / was labor
ing with her the others came no and
said that they also had offers which
they were thinking Of accepting. saw
that there was nothing but ruin ahead
Of me unless | could head off this thing.
and so | told the girls that while they
were looking out for themselves they
should not forget me. | had brought
them into the promised land, and / was
deserving Of c~onsiderate treatment.
You see | had always treated my people
pretty decent, and they felt friendly TO-
ward me-. My proposition was that the
girls who wanted to accept offers should
DO SO, but that they should inform their
admirers that they were under contract
with me for n year, and that these
contracts could be broken only by the
payment of a forfeit of $3.50. They
agreed to this, and | insisted on nothing
but that they should all hang together
and 90 with me to Sturgis, where we
| would disband.
With this understanding We set out
for Sturgis. The boys from Rapid City,
Lead City and Deadwood followed us,
and at Sturgis ! had the best houses of
the season. 1t beat anything you ever
saw. | was on the door, and they
showed dollars at me until l couldn't
get away with them. After three nights
Of this sort of thing we disbanded 4:
every lady in the company was married,
and / got $3.50 for each II of them. AS
to II OF the girls. l guess she was the
prettiest one, | could have sold her
release half a dozen times over. One
man finally did pay me the amount on
condition that if he didn't get her l
would refund it.. She married him, l
believe, and l presume l will have to
settle with the other fellow when | 60
back. Yes, I'm going back there, you
bet. Just as soon as | can get another
company together l will try it again.
No, Pm not exactly in the matrimonial
agency business, but it does look that
way u little, for a fact. On the next
trip | intend to put it into the contract
that anybody leaving the company
before the end of the engagement shall
forfeit $3.50. In this way l will make
sure of making a little money. 1t was
nothing but sheer good nature on the
part of the girls that enabled me to Law
up q cent OH this trip. My company
would have melted away like a snow
bank in July if the women hadn't been
inclined to do the fair thing by me.
The love-making of these fellows is
absolutely irresistible. l never saw
anything like it. 1t fatters a IN
half to death. They hang around and
look at her, and offer to do all sorts of
favors for her. One of my ladies went
to the p~ostofice in Sturgis and received
a couple of newspapers from Rapid City
some favorable mention Of
her performance, and when she started
to return to the hotel three or four
chaps offered to carry them for her, one
Of them saying as he, with greater bold
than the rest, seized the papers
no IN don't carry no freight
this town." I'm going back there,
you bet"